To Live and Die
by MidnightShadow101
Summary: Raven knows she's a menace- a living threat, all because of a demon cult. Despite the danger she poses, Itachi Uchiha took pity on her and taught her how to be a ninja. Because of his kindness, Raven decided to do anything for him- including making a promise to live, protect, and potentially die for a person that she barely knows: Sasuke Uchiha.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay, thank you to everyone reading this! Please review, favorite, follow!**

"Oh! What a treasure! What a beauty!"

"She's only a penniless orphan, if you can imagine. Picked her up at the orphanage on the edge of a nearby town."

"No! Really?"

"Yeah. So, sale or not...?"

"Yes, yes, she'll fit our purposes nicely."

"We've got quite a few offers on her, so you might have to pay a little extra..."

"A little extra!? This is almost enough for two!"

"What can I say? If you don't want to pay, I can just take up the offers of another, which promised this much and a little more..."

"No, no, it's fine. I'll pay."

"I thought so."

"She's not being very respectful. Spits and bites and howls whenever we come close."

"Got fire, that one. All the better. The others were too weak to handle it."

"Can't I at least teach her a small lesson...?"

"Idiot! We can't put a scratch on her until the ritual begins. She needs to be PERFECT."

"Ugh, fine. But I tell you, she's not going to go down easy..."

"I know. I'm counting on it."

Raven knew nothing beyond the filth of her environment, the unyielding steel metal bars of her cage and the cold floor like ice beneath her bare feet.

Her name wasn't really Raven. That was merely a nickname given to her by the handlers because of her hair, darker than a raven's wing.

Her handlers were mostly men, but sometimes women, bringing small bowls of food scraps and little cups of water to momentarily quench the irksome hunger that gnawed at her all day long. It wasn't just hunger for food. It was hunger for freedom. For liberation. For the blue skies above her head and the green grass beneath her feet. To jump and run and laugh like she used to, before the orphanage.

There was no way to tell time in the everlasting darkness. The hours all felt the same, filled with the misery of a caged animal longing to be free while people pressed their ugly faces against the door of her prison, gawking and thinking and making notes on their little clipboards.

So to release a little of the madness in her heart, she screamed, scratched, and howled at them, biting and spitting whenever someone dared to slip their hand through the bars.

They didn't touch her anymore.

But one day they brought a woman different from the rest in. And everything changed.

"Oh, you poor little thing."

Raven looked up with dead eyes to see a woman, a breath-takingly beautiful woman, with sweet brown doe-like eyes and black hair, darker than night. A dark, burn-like scar ran from the corner of her left eye to the bottom of her cheek, but somehow the imperfection didn't mar her beauty.

She put a small, child-like hand through the bars, and Raven didn't bite or spit at it like you usually would've. She just shied away, trembling, suspicious of anything that seemed to fare well for her.

"You poor child," The woman cooed, her voice soft and maternal, flowing over Raven's tortured ears. It was like music to hear a kind voice, a friendly tone. She mentally stored it in her brain to listen to later. "Stuck inside that cage all the time, day in and day out, week after week. Do you want to walk around a little? Outside?"

All suspicions were now cast into the sea of happiness and hope that Raven now felt. Outside? It was like a ray of sunshine had managed to worm its way into the dank, dark cell. It was a subject foreign to her. How would it feel? How did it feel before? She could not remember.

"Obviously you do. Come." The woman stuck a key into the lock and then swung the door open with a grandiose manner, smiling slyly.

Raven emerged timidly, wincing slightly as the bones in her back realigned and snapped back into place with a soft crack. She stretched out her arms to their full extent and almost smiled.

But then she saw her hands, the fingertips raw and the palms calloused and scarred from the endless scratching at the floor and the ceiling and the bars. Her nails were ground down to next to nothing.

Her hands hurt.

"Do you want something for the pain?" The woman asked, watching her closely. "It hurts, doesn't it? I can help you with that."

Oh, that voice, that sweet, musical voice. Everything she said made sense, fell into place like pieces of a puzzle, making Raven think, 'Why didn't I think of that?'

Raven nodded.

"Then come here, darling. I can help you."

'She can help me. I didn't think that anyone could actually do it, but she can help me.'

"Lay down here." The woman patted a small bed-like table in the middle of the room.

Unease shifted in Raven's gut. Her instincts screamed, 'Don't listen to her!' but her heart yearned for help, for friendliness. And this woman was nothing but friendly.

Raven lay down on her stomach, stilling the discomfort inside, assuring herself that everything would be fine.

"Close your eyes." The woman instructed and Raven complied.

In the background, Raven heard a small sizzling sound and the crackle of a fire, as if someone was cooking. She could feel the woman's cold hands on her back, right below her neck, between her shoulder blades.

And then there was a flare of burning pain, and Raven was screaming, screaming, screaming. Needles were being shoved into her spine, red-hot needles, deep into her back and along her arms.

What seemed to be flames licked their way down her back, burning her, causing her to writhe and howl and scream, scream, scream.

Somewhere in the back of her consciousness, Raven heard the woman give a dark chuckle.

"Sh, child. No need to be such a baby. "No pain no gain", after all."

Raven could barely see her reflection in the water. She had been re-confined to the cold cage again, and it was like the branding had never taken place.

Except the mark was still there.

In the murky water scarcely illuminated by the sliver of candlelight that spilled in from the bottom of the door, Raven could see that her flesh had been burned, the skin fused and twisted in places where it should not have, causing black marks going down her back all the way up to her shoulders and along her arms. The brands were ringed by tortured dark red flesh, angry and still prickling with pain. She could not see the shape they had tried to burn into her back.

Abandoning her repetitively furtive attempts to force water down her throat, Raven dumped the bowl of liquid onto her back instead, cooling it off from the branding fires. She could almost imagine it sizzling.

The door creaked open. No, no, not so soon, not again.

"Child? Child?"

That woman, called "Piper" by the others. Soft footsteps down the stone stairs. Raven retreated to the darkest corner of the cage she could find, away from the door, trying hard not to shake.

"Oh, child, still crying over that wound? Come, come, I thought you were stronger." Piper chided, lip curling into a smirk. She sounded as if she was scolding a kid for whining over something as trivial as a scraped knee or elbow.

She opened the door and reached a hand in for her, and Raven tried to bite it, scratch it, do anything that could help her escape from those grasping white fingers, but all of her strength was drained. Every time she tried to move, pain raced down her spine and along her arms. Everything ached.

Piper dragged her out none-too-gently, and Raven gave not a sign of resistance, not a sign that she was alive at all.

Fitting; she might as well be dead. It certainly felt like it.

Soon enough, she was face down on the bed/table again, her back exposed to the cold air.

She felt the tip of the icy knife digging ever-so-slightly into her back, tracing the still painful burns.

"Oh, now let's see if you're strong enough. You took yesterday well: but what about today and the days to come? The pain you are feeling now will seem like a minor discomfort compared to what is coming."

The blade dug harder, and Raven cried out. It was enough to hurt and draw blood, but not enough to kill her.

Then Piper dragged the knife along the brands, tracing its way through the tortured skin.

It hurt.

God, it hurt.

Blood ran down her side.

It became a routine. Everyday, with Piper, sometimes alone, with no one to hear her scream, and sometimes with an audience that craned its neck to get a better look.

They were all sick.

'Why can't anyone hear me? Why can't anyone just hold out a hand for me to take? 'Cause I can't bear this any more, not for much longer.'

A small exclamation from the crowd.

'It hurts. Why does it hurt so much?'

Burning pain.

'Can anyone help me? Truly help me?'

Piper was chanting.

'Mother, father, God, anyone.'

There was a gasp of surprise and sick delight from the crowd.

"Anyone. PLEASE ANYONE, JUST HELP ME!" Raven realized that she was screaming it aloud, and that the entire room had gone silent.

There was the soft padding of foot against stone.

"Well, well, well. What an exciting event this is."

A voice, colder than the air.

Piper managed to speak, in a croaky voice that was totally against her character. "It's actually true. The legend is actually true."

"The legend? Oh, that superstition. Yes, it's true. Happy that you managed to summon me?"

"Extremely." Piper sounded absolutely delighted.

Raven saw out of the corner of her eye a dark figure, shrouded in shadow and darkness, a void.

She dragged her arm to the edge of the table and raised it weakly.

"Help." She choked out. "Help me."

Piper threw a look of disgust in her direction, ridicule etched in the sharp lines of her face. "Ignore the girl, m'lord. She is the sacrifice." She was almost ugly in her scorn.

"This is the sacrifice?" The void strode over to Raven's side, and the latter shivered. His breath seemed to chill her right to the bone. "What a tiny little master this is."

Piper gasped in horror. "You can't mean-!"

"Oh, but I do. You didn't do your research right. 'From pain and despair shall the demon rise/ Born from true suffering and deceptions and lies/ It shall bestow upon their master true talent and power/ To serve them and guide them in their darkest hour.' That was the covenant. This little girl seems to fulfill all of the requirements."

"But you can't!" Piper hissed venemously, poison heavy in every syllable. "I raised you! I summoned you! You are MINE."

"I don't think so." The man replied cooly, smoothly, unaffected by her harsh words.

Raven suddenly found her voice and started to scream, barely aware of what she was saying. All she knew was that she wanted it to end. "GIVE IT TO ME! I DON'T CARE WHAT HAPPENS, JUST GIVE ME THE POWER TO KILL THEM ALL! TO RIP THEM APART AND DESTROY THEM FOR WHAT THEY DID TO ME! GIVE IT TO ME!"

"NO!" Shouted Piper over her. "YOU BELONG TO ME! I AM YOUR MASTER!"

The void-man laughed out loud, and his laugh was like winter rain. Ignoring Piper, he turned to Raven. "My, my, what a feisty little girl. No mystery why she has survived this far." He started to chant.

The audience was frozen in... fear? Apprehension? Raven didn't know. All she knew was the euphoria filling her up.

Strong. She felt strong.

She didn't remember how she did it. All she remembered was the bodies and the blood, the carnage and the massacre. All of them were dead, their bodies shredded and ripped apart.

Raven panted in the middle of the room, taking deep shuddering breaths. She was drenched in blood.

The humanoid figure was chuckling. "Impressive. The capacities of my power in the finest of vessels. What is your name, child?"

Raven found the courage to speak. "I am Raven."

He chuckled again. "I should've guessed, from the brand marks they used to summon me. No last name?"

"Barely a first name."

"Then, Raven No-Last-Name, I hereby name you, forever and for all, the vessel of the power of me, the Hunter, the Predator, the Lycan, the Wolf. You are now my follower, a Lycanthrope."

Raven soon learned that there was a difference between raw power and polished skill. What she had was the former. What she needed was the latter.

Lycan- the shadow man- disappeared soon after dubbing her, leaving her alone in a world she was barely familiar with.

As soon as she emerged from the building, blinking in the watery winter sunlight, she found out that she was in the middle of absolutely no where. Snowy forests stretched out in every direction, no path, not even a little bit of worn vegetation; the snow covered it all.

Itachi found the girl buried in a snow bank, shivering, breaths fogging up the air in little wisps of cloud.

She was a tiny little thing, no older than Sasuke- about six years old. Her garments were threadbare and torn, and soaked with... blood? Was that blood?

Her dark hair stood out in vivid contrast to the winter wonderland around them, tangled and matted. Her skin was translucently pale, as if she had never seen the sun, the same shade everywhere except for underneath her eyes, where it was ringed with the fatigue of many sleepless nights. Her form was almost skeletal; her distended stomach spoke of little or no food for a long period of time.

And then he noticed the brand marks, and his heart ached with remorse for the girl.

Curling, twisting, still edged with angry flesh, intertwining itself along her arms and back and neck, forming the unmistakable wings and body of a raven, poised in flight.

**A/N: Good? Not good? Tell me what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Wow, I didn't expect that! Thank you to all of you who reviewed and followed and favorited! I greatly appreciate it! **

**This chapter is a little bit shorter, I apologize.**

Raven dreamt of snow.

Cold, cold snow, swirling around her, landing in her hair and clinging to her eyelashes, flying into her eyes.

Each snowflake had a different pattern, some very simple, others eloquent, drifting throughout the air in floaty dances.

The air was frigid and the chill bit at her nose and any other exposed bit of skin, but the cold felt good after all of the weeks and weeks of nothing down in the room in the cellar. She could smell the wind and see the watery winter sunlight. The snow was blindingly white after the darkness she had lived in. The fresh air burned her sinuses.

She could've stayed there forever, playing and laughing and giggling as if she was a child again, but Piper had other ideas.

"Come, child. Don't fight me. I'm only trying to help. You should be proud; you're being sacrificed for the greater good."

Raven's head hurt when she awoke. Her thoughts were slow and groggy. A steel nail of pain had been rammed into her skull.

Piper... no, Piper wasn't here, Piper was dead... but, wait, where was here?

She could feel a mattress beneath her body, heavenly soft compared to an ice-cold floor. Her head rested on a pillow.

She tried in vain to move, twitch her hands or open her eyes or bend her arms, but she couldn't.

There were other people in the room. Slow, disjointed sounds faded in and out of her foggy consciousness.

"Found her in the snow... don't know... she's only a little..."

And then another voice.

"Can't have stra... dump her... could be a foreigner..."

The sounds corkscrewed themselves straight into the middle of her headache, increasing the pain. It was also frustrating, only having pieces of the conversation that she knew was about her. She tried to flex her fingers, but was met with stiff resistance. Her joints protested with a flare of pain.

It took a few long hours for the fog to clear out of her head, but when it did, she decided that it would only be for the best if she pretended to be asleep and did a little bit of recon.

If she tried to move, she probably would've just passed out again anyway.

The bits and pieces of conversation began to become clearer and connected, speeding up and going back to normal.

One voice was much deeper than the other; it was a female and a male talking.

No, arguing was the word.

"Itachi-san, you know we can't have foreigners. She could be anyone."

"I found her freezing to death. I couldn't just leave her; look at her and have some pity, woman! Starved, cold, and as young as Sasuke."

"Don't bring your brother into this. As fond as I am of Sasuke, this is totally different, and appealing to my empathetic side won't work."

"Listen to yourself. A SIX YEAR OLD girl. DYING from the cold and starvation, Sen-chan. DYING. As in DEATH."

"She isn't a Uchia. Her death would not have affected us in any way. We don't even know who she is."

"How can you be so cold-hearted?"

"What about the brands on her back? Her blood-stained clothes? Where did the blood come from?"

"I suspect child abuse."

"But you can't know."

"A six year old girl can't kill people."

"All it would take was her to creep up in the night with a kunai."

"Oh, and she just DECIDED one day to brand herself with demon summoning marks?"

"You're changing the subject."

"What REASON would she have to kill someone?"

"You can ask her. She has been listening in on our conversation for a little while, after all."

Raven's eyes flew open, feeling that there was no purpose in feinting sleep any longer, and she sat up abruptly.

The sudden movement caused the room to pitch violently to the side, spinning slowly. Her hands jumped to the sides of her head, and she moaned in a momentary second of weakness.

When the room came into focus, Raven noted the two people in front of her, indeed one female and one male.

The girl was willowy and lithe like a cat, with fair skin and long black hair. Her eyes made Raven think of dark tunnels, cold and uninviting. The way she surveyed her was not the way Piper looked at her- like a butcher preparing a pig for slaughter. It was more similar to the way a rat-catcher looked at the vermin. Like she was a pest.

The young man shared her hair and eyes; it was obvious that they were related. They both had the same narrow, straight nose and fair complexion, but there was a friendlier light in the boy's eyes. Something brotherly.

Both were wearing dark cloaks with a strange pattern embroidered on the back and headbands with a leaf-like symbol.

"Are you okay?" The boy asked kindly.

Raven didn't know how to respond, but she gave a short, jerk of the head to the side.

"Can you speak?"

"Yes."

"What's your name?"

"R-Raven."

"I'm Itachi, and this is Senbia." He gestured to the girl, who was still looking down on her like that.

"How old are you?"

"I... I'm not sure."

Itachi raised his eyebrows. "You don't know how old you are?"

"I don't have any parents, so no one knows exactly how old I am... but I think I'm around six." Raven felt terribly uncomfortable. She realized for the first time that she was wearing a thin, white cotton shirt and black shorts. Boy's clothes. Her hair was clean and untangled. When did all this happen? One moment she was dying in the snow, and another she was in a strange dwelling.

"You found me outside?" She ventured.

Itachi laughed. "It seems you WERE listening. Yes, I did, and brought you here."

"As you shouldn't have." Senbia murmured, placing a hand on her hip.

"Excuse my friend." Itachi shot her a harsh look. "She's just bad with meeting with new people."

And then there was a small period of silence, in which both of them exchanged a series of stares.

Judging from their personalities that she had learned from the conversation, the facial argument went like this:

Senbia- "We can't trust her!"

Itachi- "You're being paranoid. Look at her. An orphan. A nobody. Show some compassion!"

Senbia- "But-!"

Itachi- "No buts. She's STAYING."

Glare contest. Which Itachi seemed to win.

Senbia growled, her face flushed with anger, then held up one slim finger. "You have one week to get her on her feet, and then she's leaving." And without further ado, she stormed out of the dwelling.

Itachi cringed as the door slammed.

Raven followed it with her eyes. "She doesn't like me."

"No, she doesn't." Itachi agreed.

"Why not?"

"We'll get to that later. For now..." He went over to the side of the room and produced a bowl of food. "... you should eat."

Raven felt her stomach give an inexorable growl as she homed in on the nourishment. Real, actual food. When was the last time she had actually had a real meal...?

Like, not in forever.

She practically INHALED the food, not stopping to breathe until she was done. After she was finished, she smiled, feeling undeniably happy. Food worked wonders on a malnourished girl.

"You WERE hungry." Itachi chuckled, picking up the empty food bowl. "Faster than Sasuke."

"Who's Sasuke?"

"My younger brother. He's about the same age as you."

Raven nodded, then asked, "Where am I?"

"The Uchia hideout, somewhere in the land-hidden-in-the-tree-leaves."

"The Uchias? I think I've heard of you guys..." She said slowly, thinking back. The name sounded familiar.

"I'm surprised you have. We're a bit hidden back here, not too many visitors... actually, none at all for a long time, besides you."

Raven nodded again. "So, you're a ninja, Itachi?" She recognized the ninja headbands.

"Yes." Then he crouched down so that he was eye-level with the little girl and grinned. "Would you like to be a ninja too?"

**A/N: As always, review, favorite, follow.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry, that this is so late: I've been meaning to write this for a long time, but then when I finally started, my iPad wiped the document and I lost it. :( **

**Review, favorite, follow!**

* * *

**3rd POV**

* * *

Raven could feel the smooth mechanics of the horse beneath her and it barreled through the forest; the steady hoofbeats, the fluid movements. The bronze oval locket bounced against her white shirt.

There was a strange sensation that fluttering around her heart. It was rising in her throat and threatening to appear on her face. Something akin to... happiness, if she wasn't mistaken.

She hadn't felt this happy in a long time.

But then again, why wouldn't she be happy? She was finally starting what she was supposed to do, what she had trained- day in and day out- to do.

The euphoria was so intoxicating; she felt like laughing.

And, just to indulge herself, she did laugh. The sound resonated- surprisingly clear despite its obsoleteness- throughout the forest.

The day just echoed her good mood, as if to humor her. The sunshine shone bright and clear through the green foliage, staining the brown earth with shades of viridescence. Raven guided the horse expertly through the forest, weaving in and around the tree trunks that sprang out of nowhere.

She soon came to an overhanging cliff, and she pulled up sharply on the reins to stop the horse, which it did with much shuffling and snorting. Heart beating fast, she looked down to see...

_Konohagakure. Oh, it's beautiful._

A not too-big but not too-little village, with multicolored rooftops and, of course, the legendary monument to their Hokages- four giant faces staring stonily (excuse the pun) across Konoha, carved from an enormous mountain face.

From her lofty perch, she could see the tiny black dots of people wandering the streets, waving to each other, going about their business.

Raven jumped down from her horse, undid the riding equipment, and sent it back into the forest, free. It wouldn't do to just randomly waltz into the village on a horse; she'd probably look like a threat (image not helped by the kunai and shuriken holster strapped to her left leg).

The entrance was guarded by two ninjas, but they looked bored and inattentive as they oversaw a steady stream of merchants slowly made their way inside Konoha. Acting quickly, Raven slid down the cliff face and joined the back of the throng, not noticed and innocuous as a normal twelve-year old.

As she did so, she felt another shiver of excitement crawl up her spine. This was it. A few days ago, for a few minutes, she had felt failure; now, all she felt was happiness.

_~Flashback~_

_Raven was sitting at a corner table at a traveler's inn, eating and half-listening to the quiet gossip of the other occupants. She was making her way to the Uchiha village again, ready to start her long-awaited mission._

_"Yes, the Uchiha massacre..."_

_Her ears pricked up, and she looked up from her meal. Uchiha massacre?_

_"Old news," The old innkeeper said. "They all died a few years ago."_

_The Uchihas? All dead? Does this mean that she would have already failed? Her heart was beating fast._

_"All murdered," Murmured another gossiper. "By that one traitor... you can imagine how strong he would've been if he could take out an entire village of _Uchihas..._"_

_Was she too late?_

_"Yes," The first one said impatiently. "But one has survived."_

_Her heart froze. A survivor? Could it possibly...?_

_"A Uchiha survived!? Man, these guys are immortal!"_

_"A little boy. Sasuke, I think his name was."_

_Raven felt like fainting from relief, but her mind was buzzing with suspicion. This was too much of a coincidence. Out of all the Uchihas that were alive, Sasuke was the only one that wasn't dead?_

_The Sharingan. Itachi's Sharingan... was he really serious when he said that it could see into the future? Is this why he asked for me to protect Sasuke?_

_She wouldn't know until later._

_~Flashback End~_

Konoha was even prettier up close.

Merchant stalls were filled with colorful merchandise and wares of all kinds; grinning children were running around ("I got you!" "No you didn't!" "Yes, I did! CHEATER!"), and even ninjas, their headbands glinting in the sun.

Without even realizing it, Raven separated herself from the merchants and wandered the streets, hands in her pockets, just taking in the scenery, mind drifting. She inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, just breathing in the scent of a happy village.

"NARUTO!"

Oh, well. Mostly happy.

She turned around to see a boy about her age with spiky blonde hair and wearing orange clothing, gripping a pail in one hand, face broken into a gleeful smile.

"GRAB HIM!" Screamed one of the men chasing him; both of them were ninjas by the headbands they wore.

Instincts kicking in, Raven's hand shot out and she grabbed a fistful of the boy's shirt. Yanked back by the sudden momentum, the boy- Naruto, she guessed- gave a gasp of surprise and breathlessness, and then tugged harder than ever to get free. The pail- which Raven could now see was full of paint- dropped to the floor and spilled. Not willing to let her prey go, she planted her feet and held on with both hands now.

"Ah, thanks," Said one of the ninjas absently to her, and then snatched on of the boy's arms. Then he started shouting. "NARUTO! THIS HAS GONE WAY TOO FAR!"

"What did he do?" Raven asked, curious in spite of herself.

"Look for yourself!" The other scoffed, and gestured to the mountain face.

Now that she was closer, Raven shielded her eyes and squinted. Then she had to pinch herself to stop a laugh from bursting from her mouth.

Each of the Hokages' faces had been graffitied with different patterns: swirls, mustaches, etc.

"Well," Raven said, wrestling with her emotions to keep her face under control. "Let it not be said that he wasn't artistic. Maybe he could choose his canvases more carefully though...?"

The first ninja mumbled under his breath in agreement, but the other frowned at her, looking her up and down.

"I don't think I've seen you before. Are you part of a travelers' guild?"

"Nope," Raven decided to be honest. "By myself."

His eyebrows crawled up his face. "Traveling all by yourself? At such a young age?"

"Age is irrelevant to power." Raven said cheerfully. "Now, I have a question for you, if you don't mind."

"Fire away."

"Is there a boy named Sasuke Uchiha in this village?"

Suddenly, both men burst into laughter.

"Oh, this is about Sasuke, eh?" One chuckled, looking at the other. "Another Sasuke fangirl?"

"Excuse me?" Raven asked, feeling vaguely insulted, although she wasn't entirely sure why. "_Fangirl?"_

"Aye. Sasuke's pretty popular with the young girls."

Raven definitely felt insulted now. "I'm not a fangirl. I just asked you a simple question: is Sasuke Uchiha here or not?"

"Calm down, calm down." The ninja advised. "I meant no disrespect. Yes, Sasuke does live here. But why would you want to know, if you're not a fan?"

"Rather not say." Raven shrugged, and she started to walk away. Then she stopped. "By the way, when you're talking to someone, you shouldn't let your guard down. Naruto got away."

"What?!" The ninjas looked around themselves to see that Naruto indeed was gone. "That little-!" And they began to mutter obscenities and Raven didn't dare to repeat.

_So, Sasuke Uchiha is here after all. I thought at first that my information was a little shifty but... no matter. _She frowned._ But this will be hard. Sasuke would be in the Academy right now- learning the ways of a shinobi. I very well can't just enroll myself and follow him everywhere- I'm a girl anyway. I'd look crazy. _She stopped for a while, lost in thought.

Perhaps... the Hokage? Maybe, if I told him my story, he'd understand?

"Sorry?" The receptionist looked up from her papers. "Come again?"

Raven inwardly sighed. "The Hokage. I want to see the Hokage."

The secretary pursed her lips, frowning. "I'm sorry, but the Hokage does not have time to meet with little children. He is an immensely busy man."

"This is important." Raven insisted, and she was almost jumping from one foot to the other from impatience. Why were adults so stupid?

"If it's so important, why don't you tell me, and I'll schedule an appointment for you?"

"I don't have _time_ to make an appointment!" Raven snapped, and she felt like screaming. "Can't I just speak with him for a few minutes?"

"I will repeat myself. The Hokage-"

"Send her in, Rin. I have a few minutes to spare to humor the girl."

Raven turned in relief to an old man who was dressed in white robes, with the Japanese character for fire emblazoned upon his hat. He looked like some kid's grandpa, but Raven knew better. This was the most powerful man in the Land of Fire.

"Come in, child," The Hokage said, gesturing to his office. "You look like you're going to explode from impatience."

"Hm..." The Hokage leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, puffing gently on his pipe, lost in thought.

Raven, on the other hand, was perfectly alert, leaning forward, eyes wide. "So, you can see, I'm in a bit of a tough position."

"Indeed." He murmured. "But you can't tell me _who_ gave you this mission?"

Raven shook her head. "That would be betraying their confidence. I'm sorry, but I swore not to."

The Hokage nodded in understanding. "I understand, child. Your promise... to protect the Uchiha boy... is noble, to say the least. But do you get what you got yourself into?" He leaned forward again. "You didn't even know him... protection is life-long and lonely- you must sacrifice anything and everything to do it effectively."

"Spare me." Raven said in a bored tone. "I came to term with this ages ago. I know what my duties are, and where they lie- I must put aside all selfish desires and pursue only the wishes of the one I am protecting. I shall stay by his side and bite my tongue, bearing all of the choices he makes: it is no matter to me whether they go against my ethics. For him, I kill, I sin, I die. That is the life of a protector."

The Hokage looked mildly surprised. "Well, I can see that you possess much wisdom despite your young age. You give me the impression of a war-hardened soldier." He laughed. "So different from the children of the Academy. But, yes, of course I shall help you. School starts tomorrow for you- your story is this. You are a new student that already passed your graduation in another village. Your parents are friends of mine, and you are here to visit for a short amount of time. Oh, and what a coincidence, tomorrow, Sasuke- along with the rest of his class- will attend their first days as genin students and are put into three-man cells. Originally, I was going to put him with Sakura and Naruto, but I guess we'll just have to add you in as a fourth member. The other students might protest, but your excuse is that you want to have the full experience of a Konoha student but you'll be leaving soon, so you don't want to put into a cell with two others because when you leave, there will only be two left." He waved his hand. "Your teacher is Kakashi Hatake. He won't know about you."

Raven nodded, and then suddenly she was overwhelmed with the man's kindness. He was taking apart his beloved system- the system upheld by his fathers and their fathers- for a girl that he had just met that evening. Most people wouldn't have given her a second look. She bowed low. "Thank you so much, Lord Hokage. I appreciate your courtesy." And for once, her words were completely sincere.

His smile was warm and understanding. "Of course, Raven."

Her quarters were simple, yet efficient. Raven had been given a room in the students' compound, in between two girls named... Ino and... Sakura? Yeah, that was right.

The apartment was made up of three rooms- a kitchen, complete with a fridge, stove, and table; a bedroom; and a bathroom.

Raven didn't mind the simplicity in the least. She had few belongings in the first place; a few changes of clothes, her weapons- the senbon, shuriken, and kunai- a few scrolls, and some minor care-taking items.

Suddenly exhausted, she collapsed on the bed. Raven had been riding all day on that horse.

And so she just slept.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I updated quicker than I usually would have. I'm quite proud of myself. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed.**

**3rd POV**

_Words, written in blood- her own blood. Seven year old Raven momentarily paused in her writing to dip her fingers back into the crimson puddle in her right hand._

**_"A protector must sacrifice everything for their charge."_**

_The wound was really starting to sting, but Raven was oblivious to all pain._

**_"They must bite their tongue and stand by while their master makes all the decisions, and they must live to see those decisions through."_**

**_"It is unforgivable to breathe if the master is dead. The protector must give every fiber of their being to stand in front of the master and take the blows. Should they die, they would do so knowing that their life gave their charge at least a few more seconds to breathe."  
_**

**_"In protecting, there is no right or wrong. There is only the will of the master."_**

_Raven stopped and admired what she had written so far. Then she continued._

**_"To be a protector is to never stop."_**

**_"To be a protector is to throw away all selfish desires."_**

**_"To be a protector is to live, die, kill, sin, and give everything."_**

Raven woke up suddenly from the almost-pleasant dream.

She stayed there for a moment, staring at the ceiling, debating on whether or not the dream was a nightmare or not. It was almost peaceful, just standing there and writing the scarlet lettering on the stone face with Itachi watching from the background. The wound didn't even hurt that much.

That was when she had started. That was when she had sworn to give up her life.

Besides, what was there to live for if not the Uchihas? There was no other future for her anyway. With her life like this, she would always be busy, never know the sin known as idleness. It was a lifelong commitment and with it came a certain bliss that no one else seemed to realize. To have her destiny all written out on that rock in her blood, no surprises, no drama. It was peaceful.

Then Raven started. She really had to get going. Today started her first day at the Academy.

She leapt out of bed, quickly folded the blankets, and changed into fresh clothing. Brushed her teeth, ate breakfast, and came out of the door braiding her hair with a hair tie in her teeth.

The kunai rattled in her holster, and Raven drew comfort from the constant sound. It was a sound of security, of safety. As long as she heard that sound, she knew she was armed and ready for anything the day could throw at her.

She felt perfectly brilliant, euphoric, even. The same intoxicating happiness as yesterday, when she had finally found and entered Konohagakure.

There was a little skip in her step as she headed towards where the Hokage had described where the Academy was.

It was a simple arrangement of buildings, surrounded by a few trees. Tied to the nearest one was a swing.

Gripped with a sudden wave of nostalgia, she lay down on it, letting her legs dangle and folding her arms beneath her head.

This was it.

As soon as she entered the doors, her real purpose began. It seemed that everything that led up to this point was merely a prologue to a book, or a prelude to a movie. As soon as she put a step inside that building, she gave up everything.

She decided to lie down a little longer and savor the brief seconds of freedom that she had left. The sun felt so good on her face. She closed her eyes. She felt at peace with the world.

"Hey! I know at you!"

Raven felt a twinge of annoyance. Right now? She was enjoying her last moments of liberation. _Just leave me alone._

She felt a shadow cast over her face. Scowling, she opened her eyes to see a face.

Tanned, with spiky blonde hair and startlingly bright blue eyes.

She knew that face. That boy from yesterday. Nar-something? Naruto. That was it.

"You're that new girl that I met yesterday! Hey, I owe you one for not ratting me out to the ninjas while I escaped."

"You're welcome." Raven closed her eyes.

"What's your name?"

"Raven."

"I'm Naruto Uzamaki! And you'd better remember that, 'cause I'm going to become the Hokage!"

Raven laughed as she opened her eyes again, surveying the kid in front of her with an amused disposition.

He wasn't tall; rather short actually. And he certainly didn't strike her as the "most talented ninja" type. More of a troublemaker. Besides, after the stunt he had pulled yesterday, he couldn't be pegged as anything else.

"What are you laughin' about?" Naruto bristled immediately, glaring at her.

"Nothing. It's just... got a long way to go, don't you, kid?"

His face broke into a grin again.

_I can barely take his radical mood swings._

"Yeah, I know, but I'm going to do it no matter what! Then everyone will have to stop disrespecting me!"

Raven cocked her head to the side. "Disrespecting you?"

"Yeah! Everyone treats me like dirt! But I'm going to show them!" Naruto yelled.

"What about your parents?"

Naruto looked down, grin fading again. "I don't have any." He muttered.

Raven felt her heart give a pang. On an impulse, she put an arm around his shoulders. "I can feel you there, kid."

"Seriously?" He looked up, surprise evident on his face.

"Yeah. I grew up the same way. You're gonna go far, kid." Raven grinned.

Suddenly she realized what she was doing. Making a friend! Ugh, she really had to give up those old habits. She couldn't make friends anymore. That was for normal kids. She was a protector now. She couldn't afford friendships.

"Well, I got to go now..." Raven retracted her arm and started to walk away, leaving Naruto with a pensive look on his face.

**Sasuke's POV**

It was terribly boring to wait, but that was normal.

My fellow classmates were all messing around- chatting idly in groups all around the room, killing time before Iruka showed up. They were all trying to act cool, but I could see the nervousness in their faces and hear it in their voices.

My lip curled momentarily as I realized that most of them were absolutely terrified of what was going to happen next.

Sometimes, I thought that this academy was just a waste of my precious time. The techniques they taught us were decent enough, and the instructors weren't too bad, but it was all too _slow_. One kid didn't get what was going on and the entire class had to stop. I was stuck in a classroom with a bunch of no-talent kids, and the girls were usually more interested in _me_ than in becoming a ninja.

Speaking of which, two of them had just entered the door (Sakura and... Ino?), seemingly racing each other and both exclaimed, "I WON!" And then proceeded to argue about who actually did ("I got here first!" "No, I did!" "You cheated!" "Shut up, you porker!" "Billboard brow!").

I felt like taking a kunai and driving in through my skull. I was dying of boredom.

Now the fangirls were _all_ arguing over who got to sit in the empty seat next to me, in between Naruto and I. I saw Naruto sending me a death-glare, which I promptly ignored. Judging by the way he was acting, he seemed to have a crush on Sakura, and was therefore angry at me for stealing all her attention.

It's not like I was trying.

I saw her by chance. The door swung open, drawing my attention towards it for half a second, and I saw her.

I had never seen her before. She was new, to the class at least. She was tall and athletic-looking, with attentive silvery eyes. Her skin was snow pale, except for her eyes, which was hooded with shadows. Deadblack hair, snake-braided and tossed carelessly over her shoulder. She was wearing a black tunic with a collar that was higher than normal. A bronze chain glinted from around her neck.

Something about her reminded me vaguely of... the Uchihas. The way she walked, confident, with her head held up high, almost arrogant but not quite.

_But she can't be an Uchiha. _I told myself impatiently_. They were all killed. This is nothing but wishful thinking. Besides, she doesn't even _look_ like an Uchiha. It's just the expression._

Even so, something about her just seemed to draw me towards her. I couldn't take my eyes away.

She seemed familiar somehow...

Then her eyes suddenly found his.

**3rd POV**

It was him. Raven felt her hand stray inexorably towards the bronze locket around her neck. She gripped the cold metal in her fingers and felt her heart rate speed up.

She would've recognized him anywhere. The black eyes, so reminiscent of Itachi's and iconic black hair that looked so much like a duck. His skin was pale, and Raven absent-mindedly noted that he had grown into quite the eye-candy.

She wasn't the only one that noticed. By the look of things, almost every single girl in the class was arguing over who got to sit next to Sasuke.

"I was here first!"

"No you weren't, you pig!"

"Billboard brow!"

"What did you call me?!"

"I get to sit next to him!"

"BUT I WAS HERE FIRST!"

"_I_ was here before either of you set foot inside the building! I get to sit next to him!"

"No, me!"

And then World War III commenced.

Raven laughed quietly to herself as she thought, _Well, look who's mister popular. And to think that he's just sitting there._

Sasuke seemed oblivious to the entire battle. He sat in the chair with his elbows on the table and fingers folded. The picture of impassiveness.

But Raven had known the Uchihas for almost three years. If someone had been paying attention, then they would have noticed the almost nonexistent tightening of the jaw, or the way he stiffened oh-so-slightly whenever another girl joined the argument.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Raven slipped into the chair at the very back of the room, in the very corner of the room, some two rows behind Sasuke.

This, she decided, would be the most strategic place to guard him, as she had her back to two walls, therefore eliminating the nuisance of constantly looking over her shoulder for threats, and the entire room was spread out in front of her. Nothing would move without her noticing.

Call her paranoid, but now that she was Sasuke's protector, she knew that she now had to assume that there was an axe murderer behind every door, an assassin in every room, and a lethal plot behind every friendship.

Naruto was in the other seat, on the left side of Sasuke, glowering at his neighbor, obviously jealous at all the special female attention he was getting.

A puff of smoke in front of the classroom announced the arrival of a man with dark brown hair tied up in a spiky ponytail and a long scar across his nose. He held a sheaf of paper in one hand, and Raven assumed that he was Iruka, the main instructor. The class silenced themselves almost immediately, scrambled for their seats, and continued to shiver with apprehension.

"Okay, children, settle down. I know you're all excited, and I also wanted to say congratulations for making it to genīn." He smiled, then put on his serious face again. "I will now assign you into three-man cells... _that have been pre-selected_." He added, stopping the flurry of children waving and pointing at their friends from across the room. They all groaned.

"What a drag." Raven heard a boy murmur.

"Oh! I hope I get put in Sasuke's group!" Exclaimed every single female present in the class besides Raven, who rolled her eyes.

_Sorry, girls, but there's only one of you who will be. Sakura Haruno, if I'm not mistaken. _Raven chuckled as she remembered the pink-haired kunoichi.

Suddenly, Raven became aware of all the stares she was getting.

Well, it was to be expected; after all, they had absolutely no idea who she was.

"Who the hell is that girl in the corner?"

"She wasn't in my class..."

"Nor mine."

"Not in my class either."

"Screw _classes_. I don't even think she's been to the Academy before today!"

They weren't being very discreet about the whispering, and Raven just flashed them all a mysterious smile before focusing back on Iruka, who finally seemed to notice her.

"Oh, yes, class, this is Raven. She's an addition to the Academy, as of today."

Instantly, the room burst into protests.

"That's not fair!"

"She didn't even take the exam, did she!?"

"How come she just gets to join, even when she didn't attend any classes or do any homework!?"

"SILENCE!" Iruka roared, and silence fell. "Listen to yourselves! Fine, you can protest, but she's been recommended here by the Hokage himself, so if you wan't to argue, talk to him!"

More whispers.

"The _Hokage_?"

"She must be really strong if she's managed to skip all those grades..."

"Recommended by the _Hokage_?"

Iruka interrupted their speculating and gossip by starting to announce the cell arrangements. Raven dozed off until she heard the names.

"Naruto Uzamaki." Naruto looked up.

"Sakura Haruno." Sakura groaned and Naruto cheered.

"Sasuke Uchiha." Now it was Sakura's time to cheer and Naruto's turn to groan.

No one was expecting _my_ name to be said next.

"And Raven."

"WHAT!?"

"Hey!" A boy with red paint on his face yelled **(A/N: Kiba)**. "I thought that these were three-man cells! Not four-man cells!" The white dog on his head barked in agreement.

"Raven is visiting from another village clan where things are done differently, and she wants to experience Konoha culture. Since she's only staying for a limited time, she's an _addition_ to the group. Don't worry, she won't be part of that group for long."

Raven felt vaguely insulted as the class gave a sigh of relief.

"You will now go to your assigned rooms to await your sensei. Dismissed."

The room was filled with the sound of scraping chairs, complaints about group assignments, and cheers about group assignments.

"How come I got put in a group with two of the biggest losers in the Academy!?" A girl, Ino (I think), said in disgust.

"Maybe because you're a loser too." The "what-a-drag" boy suggested in a dull voice.

Raven left as quietly as she could, although more whispers followed her everywhere.

She could deal with whispers, though.

She had dealt with worse. Raven closed her eyes momentarily and remembered the dark memory.

_~Flashback~_

_"C'mon, demon girl, how come you're so weak all of a sudden?"_

_"She's always been weak! Every just thinks she's strong because she's with Itachi all the time!"_

_Raven felt kicks at her back as she curled into a ball. She whimpered pathetically, realizing that she had no strength to fight back. Yes, Itachi had trained her, but she was too scared to actually engage the children._

_Too scared that she might accidentally hurt them so badly that they wouldn't get up again._

_The blows were beginning to hurt. Yes, they were only children, but they were Uchiha children. Which made a world of difference._

_Why do they like to do this so much? What did I ever do to them? _

_"Demon girl! Demon girl!"_

_Why do they treat me like this?_

_"Demon girl! DEMON GIRL!" _

_The chants were growing, both in venom and volume._

_I don't want to hurt them._

_"THAT'S IT! I'M NOT GOING TO STAND FOR THIS ANYMORE!" _

_Raven only remembered their terrified faces before her world was plunged into black and red._

_Blood. She wanted blood._

_~Flashback End~_

**A/N: Review, favorite, follow.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed, and favorited! And I apologize for the lateness of this chapter; I've been doing a lot of beta-reading recently, and I kind of got distracted. I also got writer's block, so I just sort of tried to crank it out to be done with it.**

**3rd POV**

_~Flashback~_

_"Itachi! Itachi, turn around, I know you hear me!"_

_Itachi, with Raven at his heels, turned with a small smile._

_"Fujita, how are you?" The boy- Fujita- snorted in disgust._

_"Don't pull that act with me, Itachi. I know that you're just fooling around." He seemed to notice Raven and a cruel leer crept across his face. "Oh, still babysitting that piece of trash? Why do you even bother?"_

_Raven's face betrayed no emotion. She stayed calm and impassive and ignored Fujita's biting remark. Itachi smiled and laughed._

_"No use, Fujita. I've been training her for... a few months now? She learns quickly. Emotional control. You could punch her and she won't attack unless she gets a word from me. Still needs a bit of work, but as you can see, she's pretty proficient."_

_Fujita looked annoyed, but sneered anyway. "Always protecting her, huh, Itachi? And I've seen the way she looks at you. She totally adores you, waiting on you hand and foot; your wish is her command." Itachi stayed silent, deciding that this was the best thing to do. "She's under your spell; you basically control her. Is she another one of your pawns in your schemes, you snake?"_

_There was a flurry of movement, and suddenly Fujita screamed in pain and fell over. Raven had jumped at him and whipped out a kunai, stabbing him in the arm._

_"Take it back!" She yelled, anger blazing in her eyes as she twisted the knife and sent blood dripping down his arm. "You take it back, you-!"_

_"Raven!" Itachi called out sternly. "It's okay. Get off of him."_

_"But-!"_

_"_Now_."_

_Despite the fact that Raven looked like she wanted to protest, she gritted her teeth and withdrew her kunai, stowing it back in the dark recess of her coat and retreating back to Itachi's side. Fujita gave a growl._

_"You little witch!" He got to his feet and advanced menacingly towards her._

_"Fujita! It seems we can all learn from this." Itachi casually adjusted his position so that Raven stood behind him. He pointed his finger mock-accusingly. "You! You insulted my apprentice and myself, and in turn my apprentice decided to defend her sensei's honor by attacking you. Learn to hold your tongue. Raven! You attacked a comrade in an uncalled for manner. Learn self-control."_

_Fujita narrowed his eyes. "And you, Itachi? What did you learn?"_

_"Me? Oh, I learned that you are an unpleasant person." And he left, with Raven at his side, both of them laughing._

_~Flashback End~  
_

**Sasuke's POV**

All four of us stood impatiently in the classroom, glancing at our watches and the ticking clock on the wall.

"He's late!" Naruto snapped, pacing. In reality, our sensei was only a few minutes past due, but in all honesty, Naruto had the attention span of a goldfish.

"Maybe he confused the time and place...?" Suggested Sakura, sliding the door open and looking out into the hall again.

Raven just gave a nonchalant shrug. I noticed that her silver eyes were never still, jumping from the door to one window and another window and the roof and the floor, constantly analyzing the room and the positions of my teammates.

Well, that's what it looked like. I can't be exactly sure what she was doing.

Raven was a strange girl. First of all, there was the absence of the last name. Who the hell was she, showing up out of nowhere and then joining _our_ cell. Breaking the system. Recommended by the Hokage.

The way she acted was also weird. Always watching, always looking. She would stand stock-still, not even twitching except for her eyes, which- like they were right now- would switch from target to target.

And then there was the sense of familiarity, like I somehow _knew_ her from somewhere.

She caught me looking at her and smirked as I hurriedly looked away. I decided to ask.

Gathering up my courage, I said to her, "Do I know you?" I was pleased that my voice betrayed none of the nervousness I actually felt. Sakura and Naruto turned at the sound of my question.

Her eyes zeroed in on me again, and she cocked her head to the side. "I don't think so... why?"

"Just seem familiar." I muttered, and then continued to ignore her.

"By the way, who _are_ you?" Sakura inquired, frowning. "I've never seen you in the village before."

"I'm from another village clan." She said smoothly. "You wouldn't have seen me."

"Then why are you attending the Academy? Usually, family clans train their students individually."

"I wanted to make sure that there were no holes in my education. So I quit my training and joined this group."

She said it all calmly, oh-so-casually, giving us no hint that she might be lying. And yet, my gut instinct screamed deceit.

"What's your last name, then?" I said this. Sakura and Naruto looked at her expectantly, as if they wanted to know the answer too.

"Ah." Raven strode over to me, crouched down to my eye level (since I was sitting) and _actually had the nerve to poke me in the forehead_. "_That's_ a secret."

**Raven's POV**

Damn, questions. I hated interrogation time.

I frantically fabricated a story as they launched them at me, poking their noses into my business.

When Sasuke asked for my last name, I was literally at a loss for words. So the only thing that I could come up with was, "That's a secret." To cover up my suspicious attitude, I poked him, theorizing that this would probably tick him off enough to draw his attention away from my name.

He scowled and made like a rock again, making me smirk and go back to my room-analysis.

"He's late!" Naruto yelled again suddenly, breaking the silence. He snatched a chalkboard eraser from the shelf and shoved a chair to the doorway, standing up on it and placing the eraser in between the sliding door and the doorframe, cackling evilly. If anyone tried so much to open the door, they would get an eraser to the head.

"Idiot, you're going to make us look bad!" Sakura snapped, moving to dislodge the eraser.

Naruto grabbed her arm to stop her, saying, "It's his fault that he's slowing us down."

"You loser," Sasuke sighed. "He's an elite ninja, a jounīn. He's not going to fall for a stupid trick like tha-"

Suddenly the door slid open and the eraser smacked the guy on the head.

I instantly surveyed him for my mental dossier.

He was a tall, slouching young man with spiky pre-mature silver hair. Half of his face was covered up to his nose with a face mask, and his right eye was covered by his ninja headband, which was slanted downwards. The only definite facial feature I could see was one of his drooping eyes, which made him look impossibly bored.

All in all, a frustrating appearance, considering that most of his face was covered up, obscuring any definitive facial features. The only thing I had to go off of was an eye and his iconic hair color and style. I inwardly sighed.

"Hm..." The man said, doing a closed-eyes smile. "From a first impression... I can say... I hate you all."

**3rd POV**

**Two Minutes Later...**

"So, you're all genīn. Congratulations." We were all seated on the Academy's rooftop, sitting in a row. "I am your sensei. Now, let's introduce ourselves. Give your name, likes, dislikes, and your dream or goal for the future."

There was a brief moment of awkward silence, none of us willing to go first, which Naruto ended by saying gruffly, "Why don't you go first, to show us how it's done."

"Me? Okay. My name is Kakashi Hatake. There are a lot of things I like and a lot of things I dislike. And my dream is... personal."

_Basically the only thing I learned was that his name is Kakashi Hatake. Well, it might be all I have to go off of, but it's something. _Raven thought, making a mental note to visit the village records that night.

"Okay, let's start with the young lady." Kakashi gestured to Sakura, who blushed.

"Oh, okay. My name is Sakura Haruno. And the thing I like is... well, it's not really a thing, it's more of a person..." And she blushed and giggled and glanced at Sasuke (who ignored her).

_Are you serious? She's more interested in Sasuke than she is in training..._ Raven groaned internally.

"I hate... Naruto!" Naruto gave a yell of anger and opened his mouth to protest while Kakashi and Raven and Sasuke face-palmed in unison.

"Okaaaaaay... on to the next one, Naruto."

Said boy grinned and saluted. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki! What I like is a bowl of instant-cup ramen! What I like even more than that is when Iruka-sensei takes me out to the ramen shop! What I dislike is the three minute wait after you pour the water in! And my dream is... to become the greatest Hokage!" He adjusted his headband. "Then everyone will have to stop disrespecting me and look up to me!"

Silence.

_That... was interesting_. Was Raven's commentary this time.

"Next."

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke's quiet voice barely went above a whisper, yet it was clearly audible. "I dislike a lot of things, but there's not much that I actually _do_ like, so there's no point in talking about that. And my goal for the future is to... kill someone."

There was more uncomfortable silence after this.

_He wants to kill someone? I wonder who that is... _Raven thought._ Anyway, not very happy-looking, is he?_

"Thank you, sunshine." Raven said sarcastically to Sasuke, earning herself one of his infamous death glares. She ignored it and turned to Kakashi. "I believe it's my turn...?"

"Go for it."

"I am Raven, and I guess I like... fighting. I don't like whiners, fangirls, and gossipers. And my goal... is to protect someone. Someone like family." Why lie? Kakashi might know already anyway; the Hokage might have told him.

"Thank you." Kakashi said boredly. "Now, tomorrow, we will have... a survival exercise. Don't eat breakfast. You might throw up." And with that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Immediately, Sasuke got up, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and left. Sakura followed, and when Naruto realized that everyone else was leaving, he got up too.

"Hey Sakura!" He yelled. "Do you want to spend some time together, you know, like inter-team friendship?"

"Uh, no way, Naruto!" She shouted back at him.

_Poor Naruto. Can't you see that she's totally infatuated with Sasuke?_

Two seconds later, Sakura was asking Sasuke the same thing that Naruto has just asked her. Of course, Sasuke turned her down, scolding her for flirting when she could have been training.

Raven just watched, chuckling to herself.

_Young love is so troublesome; I'm glad that I don't have to go through it. _

She then turned to Naruto, expecting him to throw some sort of tantrum and complain, but instead he had a look on his face that could only be described as evil. Raven raised an eyebrow as he rushed off, following Sasuke.

"Hey, Naruto! Watcha doin'?" Raven called after him.

"Just executing a little plan." He laughed, a wicked smile now plastered across his face.

**A/N: I got writer's block near the end, as you might've noticed. Review, follow, favorite.**


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